London and Paris snubbed as global poll reveals the world's favourite travel destinations

Britain’s biggest cities have been handed a surprising snub by the world’s tourists in a new poll that reveals the planet’s favourite destinations.

Only one UK city – Edinburgh – earned any sort of international approval, and only then of a meagre variety, trailing in 21st in the list of the 25 most popular travel locations on Earth.

Off the pace: Despite attractions such as the London Eye, London is not among the top 25 most popular tourism destinations on the planet, says a new poll

A second list – of the 25 most popular travel destinations in Europe – is similarly dismissive of Britain’s charms, with Edinburgh again the sole place in the British Isles to make the grade, coming in at 17th.

The results would seem to be bad news for London, with the Olympics just two years away – although traditional English visitor hotspots such as Bath and York may also be bemused by their absences.

The survey, spread across multiple categories, was conducted by travel reviews specialist TripAdvisor – with users of the company’s website worldwide questioned as to their views.

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“Millions of travellers around the world have spoken and this will serve as a stark wake-up call to London in particular,” says TripAdvisor spokesperson Emma O’Boyle.

“London is one of the greatest cities in the world, but with the Olympics just two years away there is clearly still work to do to convince travellers that England’s capital is a world-class tourist destination.”

However, while the poor reception for London, Manchester and Birmingham may raise eyebrows, there are greater shocks elsewhere in the lists, where some distinctly unexpected locations put in appearances.

Both the global and European popularity polls are topped by the same three cities in the same order – Monte Carlo taking the crown, followed by the small German city of Heidelberg, with Austria’s fourth largest city Salzburg taking third place.

And you are? The small German city of Heidelberg is the second most popular tourism destination in the world - according to the survey

Other less-known travel destinations to achieve a ranking in the global list include Lucerne in Switzerland (fifth), Queenstown in New Zealand (15th) and Victoria in Canada (24th).

Similarly, the European list tips its hat to Galway in Ireland (23rd) and Bergen in Norway (25th).

Nor is London the only major metropolis to have seemingly earned the disapproval of the world’s tourists. Paris is entirely absent from the global poll, and scrapes into a lowly 24th spot in the European list, three places below Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy.

New York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles all fail to find a spot on the global list – as do Rio De Janeiro, Havana and Cairo.

In the European list, meanwhile, there is no sign of Madrid, Lisbon, Athens, Istanbul or Moscow.

However, Britain fares better in other categories – although there is further bad news for London in the list of the 25 most popular UK destinations. Edinburgh is top of the pile, with Brighton and York both climbing above the capital in second and third.

London finally has its moment in the ‘best nightlife’ category, voted the best city in Europe for a party, pushing Berlin into second. Newcastle is also applauded here, coming in third. New Orleans is deemed the best place in the world for a night out, ahead of New York and Las Vegas.